Wet Dog
by SpazzAvalanche
Summary: Marauders era Sirius/Remus fluff. In their fifth year, Sirius is determined to earn the affections of a certain werewolf, who brushes him off, insisting he smells like wet dog. But as Sirius's feelings grow stronger, and he and Remus grow closer, he knows he has to win him over somehow.
1. Chapter 1

It started, as these things usually do, over a bit of chocolate.

Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were lying on their bellies, grass tickling their elbows as Remus's Potions book lay open between them. An old weeping cherry tree shaded their eyes from the sun.

"C'mon, Sirius, OWLs are only a few weeks away," Remus coaxed. "You're smart, but no one's smart enough to wing it."

"I don't want to study," Sirius whined. "It's so nice out. I want to _play._"

"And I want a slab of chocolate the size of my face," countered Remus testily, "but we can't always get what we want."

"Can't we?" asked Sirius with an impish grin. He reached into his bag to pull out a slab of chocolate, then performed a simple charm to enlarge it to roughly the size of the smaller boy's face. When Remus reached predictably for it, Sirius held it just out of his grasp. "It's got caramel."

Grinning, Remus lunged, and the two shared a brief grapple over the candy. Sirius let him win; he wasn't sure, exactly, whether the sweet actually helped ease Remus's monthly transformations, but he knew that it put him in a better mood, at least... which, this close to the full moon, was a bit of a miracle. When one of your best friends was a werewolf, you learned to carry his favorite chocolate around at certain times of the month. When one of your best friends was a werewolf as warmhearted and humble as Remus Lupin, you learned to look forward to the surprised delight on his face every time you did something for him. You learned to want to do more.

Remus had Sirius pinned, chocolate held in one hand raised victoriously. But the werewolf paused, sniffed deeply. Sirius couldn't help but notice how lightweight he was, nor the goldish streaks in his brown hair. The matching ones in his eyes.

Finally, Remus wrinkled his nose. "You smell different," he complained. "Like... wet dog."

Sirius shrugged and employed his best Exploding Snap face. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said airily. "Eat your chocolate."

"Study," countered the werewolf. "You had your minute to play, now get to it."

"Well I would," said Sirius cheerily, "but there's a werewolf on my chest. Hey, d'you think that line's good enough to get me out of the homework?"

Remus's face went crimson and he scrambled off of his friend. "Let's get on with it," he said quickly. "You never know what potion they're going to ask for during the practical, so you've got to really know the techniques."

* * *

><p>Three days later, Remus was in a foul enough mood all the chocolate in Honeyduke's wouldn't fix it. His three best friends, Sirius, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew had something that might, though.<p>

They watched their friend from beneath James's Invisibility Cloak. Ten minutes after Remus entered the tunnel beneath the Womping Willow, the trio climbed in after him.

"What if it doesn't work, and one of us can't transform?" squeaked Peter.

"Shh," said James. "It'll work. And if it doesn't, we'll get the hell out of Dodge."

"What?" asked the two other boys.

"I learned the phrase in Muggle Studies," answered James smugly.

"Only one Muggle you'd like to study-Muggle-born, that is," snarked Sirius. "How many times have you asked her out using Muggle pickup lines?"

"Shut up. Anyway, let's agree to the plan-this first time, we stay in the Shack all night. If all goes well, we'll try outside next term."

They reached the entrance to the Shrieking Shack and opened the door. Remus sat on a tattered couch, staring miserably out the window, but jumped up when the door opened.

"You can't be here!" he shouted, panic etched onto his thin features. "Don't you understand how dangerous-in ten minutes or less I'll take any chance I can get to kill you all!"

Sirius tried to soothe him: "Calm down, Remus, we-"

"Calm down? _Calm the bloody hell down_ when my three best mates have obviously gone suicidal? You need to leave, leave before the transformation takes hold!" He groaned, obviously in pain already. SIrius ached for his friend, knowing the pain must go deeper than even bone.

"Explaining obviously isn't working," said James cheerily, "so we might as well show you."

"Just GET OUT!" he roared, clutching his sides.

"But if we don't explain, how will he know that werewolf bites don't affect animals?" asked Sirius conversationally.

"Let's just do it!" said Peter anxiously. Sirius glanced at Remus, who was now hunched over in pain, then locked eyes with James and nodded.

This was only the fifth time Sirius had transformed since mastering the charm, so the sensation was still alien. It was as though everything inside him was liquifying, then resolidifying in a new form.

He bumped his wet nose into Remus's palm. "It's starting! You need to le-" Remus finally looked up. "What-Sirius? James? Peter? You... did this for-AAGH!"

With his newly acute hearing, Sirius heard bones snap and crunch sickeningly, and hurt for his friend as Remus's screams of pain became howls.

But soon, Sirius knew, the physical pain would be gone as his friend became the monster that haunted the nightmares of children-and, in Sirius's expert opinion, the bigots at the Ministry.

It didn't take long to discover the werewolf's perspective. He paid little mind to the rat that was Peter-no surprise there. He eyed Sirius cautiously, sniffed him deeply. They locked eyes and the wolf's hackles raised as he snarled. It was a threat, an assertion of dominance-so Sirius did what came naturally to him as a dog, and let out a low growl. At once, they pounced.

The werewolf was fierce, nearly rabid-unlike Sirius, who held back just enough to assure he didn't permanently maim his friend, the wolf had no such control.

But the dog's instincts took over-Sirius wouldn't be able to explain or intellectualize it later. He stopped thinking in words, stopped feeling the intricacies of human emotion. This was raw, this was dominance, this was passion. This was life. And the dog would fight for his.

Fur flew. The dog tasted blood, his own and the wolf's, and craved more of it. He lunged for the throat as the wolf did the same, and they ended up locking jaws. More blood filtered into each mouth.

Both canines went flying against the Shack walls as some unseen force rammed their sides. Dog and wolf looked over at the stag with the rat on its back, which seemed somehow to be glaring at both of them.

Sirius looked back at the wolf who was normally Remus. Their eyes met once again, and Sirius could sense the wolf's concession: in power, they were equals. Then the werewolf whined slightly and licked blood from Sirius's muzzle. _Pack._

The stag beat his hooves against the ground in celebration; this caught the wolf's attention and he hunched down, ready to pounce.

Sirius walked calmly to stand before James. He hoped he could convey that this deer was not a snack, but a friend.

He turned his back on the wolf and hopped onto his hind legs, placing his paws on the stag's legs and brushing his head against its chest in affection. He looked back to Remus, and could tell he understood. _Pack._

But the wolf still needed blood, still needed the fight. This time though, when he lunged at the dog, it was not to kill-but to play.

* * *

><p>The moment Remus transformed back into a human, he was fast asleep. The three new Animagi transformed back to their human selves. James and Sirius had cuts all over, their clothes in tatters. Peter only had a few bumps and bruises-as a rat, he hadn't been able to "play" with the others and had spent most of his night on James's back.<p>

"We'd better get back to the castle before Pomfrey catches us," said James.

And so the three left their worn, sleeping friend to lie across a tattered sofa cusion as his body recovered. A certain long-haired boy hesitated, glancing over his shoulder at the scarred young man he was leaving behind, and privately ached to rest beside him.

"Oy!" called James from somewhere up ahead. "You coming or are you gonna stare at naked Remus until Pomfrey comes in to get you expelled?"

Sirius beat down a blush before it could mar his cheeks, shook the thoughts from his head, and bounded forward.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Fixed the formatting for the last chapter as well as a couple snags in the plot that would have turned to holes later.

Also: Yes, I'm pretty slow to update. I'm a student in a really rigorous program, along with working and other obligations. I apologized over it pretty constantly in my last story; for now I'll just say, "I hope you enjoy the story enough to stick with it."

The "wet dog" premise for the story was inspired by a headcanon I stumbled across on Tumblr months ago. If anyone can tell me the author, I'll be sure to credit them.

* * *

><p>Sirius couldn't concentrate. He was anxious, something that he-as the heir of the Woeful and Most Ancient House of Prats-made a point never to be.<p>

Fifth years had had their final OWL the day before, but that wasn't what was bothering him.

Remus was angry with him. He wouldn't tell Sirius why ("Sirius, I'm not angry with you," he'd insisted) but he had barely spoken to the dark-haired boy all week and it was getting to Sirius.

James was speaking animatedly to him over a lunch of chicken sandwiches and soup, and while Sirius knew Quidditch was the topic, he wasn't keeping up. He wasn't as avid a fan as James of the sport, but he could certainly hold his own in a debate over the Cannons versus the Harpies. Today, he tuned James out and pushed his spoon around in his soup.

"Sirius. Sirius, hey, what the hell have you got up the arse today?" snapped James.

"Sorry," he said, blinking. "Only tired."

To his right, Mary Macdonald tugged on his elbow. "Sirius," she said, waiting until he looked over at her, "We've just got this weekend before we board the train home, and I doubt your parents will let you come see me all summer." As Mary was a Muggleborn, Sirius had a strong suspicion she was right, although he could've got around that if he'd wanted to.

The problem was, he was fairly certain he didn't want to.

Mary was pretty, and she got good marks. He supposed she was a good conversationalist, though since they'd started dating they hadn't talked much. He'd taken her to Hogsmeade the previous weekend, but kept becoming distracted wondering what the other Marauders were up to; the week had been full of little besides OWLs, and free time had been spent decompressing with his mates. Who could blame him for being too busy for a girl he had passing interest in? He'd only asked her on the date because she had hinted heavily all year.

When Sirius didn't respond, Mary sighed. "Why don't we find somewhere private to talk?" she suggested. "Let's go out to the lake."

"Of course," he said. "Sorry."

They walked silently, then found a spot away from the other students enjoying the sunshine. Mary sat across from Sirius, a bit too closely for his liking, and stared at him until he spoke. "What is it?"

She huffed. "What is it?" she asked. "_What is it?_ Well, my boyfriend has made me the envy of the school, but they haven't much to envy as he won't talk to me. You won't even touch me."

"I have touched you," he said uncomfortably. Hadn't he?

"You haven't," she corrected. "I don't understand why, either. You're touchy-feely with your mates, shoving into each other and even touching each other's arms when you're trying to make a point, but you won't so much as hold my hand."

"I-" She was right, he knew. "I'm sorry," he said lamely, not having an excuse for it.

"If you're not interested, I can take a brush-off well enough," she said, matter-of-factly. "You'd only to say so in the first place."

"It's not that," he insisted. "I've just been... distracted. It's been-"

"Are you attracted to me?" she interrupted.

"What? Of course you're attractive," he said, baffled. She was one of Gryffindor's beauties, Lily Evans being the other. Surely she knew that?

"That's not what I asked," she corrected. "I asked, are you attracted to me?" It didn't sound like a question, but something she knew the answer to.

"I..." Sirius thought. She was a beauty, as he'd more or less said. But was he attracted? What did that mean, exactly?

Before he could figure out the answer, he felt another pair of lips on his. They were full, warm, and soft. After a couple of moments, he remembered to move his lips in response to hers.

"Just as I thought," she said, pulling away with a shake of her head. "You should never have asked me to Hogsmeade, Sirius."

"You don't look... upset," he decided. She looked almost triumphant, as though she'd solved a puzzle. And it was true; he'd felt nothing.

"M'not," she answered, brightening. "I thought I'd done something wrong, or that you only wanted me for my body, but this confirms my theory."

"Theory?"

"Of course," she said patiently, teacher to student. "There's a certain way I've wanted you to look at me, and for months I've seen that look in your eyes... directed toward someone else. I thought I was seeing things, and if I just put myself in your path you'd eventually look at me that way. Like I was the only person who mattered, like you were getting the tingles every time you thought of me. But I was right in the first place, and you've only got eyes for one person. If that's not going to be me, I can live with it." She smiled at him, just a little sadly.

For his part, Sirius was positively baffled. What look? Who? He thought of every girl he knew, and felt no sense of "the tingles," as Mary called it. He couldn't think of a single bird he might be interested in.

"Hello, Sirius? Still there?" she said, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Yeah, sorry," he said.

"That seems to be the only word you know today," she teased good-naturedly.

"Sorry," he repeated, running a hand through his hair in a habit he'd picked up from James. "Just... I'm afraid if I'm looking at anyone that way, it's just the way my face falls. There aren't any girls I fancy."

She grinned. "I don't believe I ever mentioned a girl. Come on, Sirius. You look at him like he holds the key to all the magic in the world and you still want to give him more of it."

He blinked once. Twice. "He? I don't fancy blokes. Sorry, Mary, but you're up the wrong tree here."

"Sirius," she said, with something like pity, "You're so in love with Remus, and you haven't even realized it."

"What?"

Gobsmacked, Sirius only shook his head. He wasn't in love with Remus.

Couldn't be in love with Remus.

In love, with Remus?

_Remus._

Remus with the sweet innocence despite all he'd been through. Remus, who was always so surprised at being treated with the bare minimum of the kindness he deserved. Remus, who didn't think nearly enough of himself. Remus with the golden eyes and scars that told stories.

"God fucking damn it, Mary, I think you might be right."

* * *

><p>The two returned to the castle, Sirius open-mouthed and Mary smiling triumphantly. Lunch had finished, and they found the rest of the Marauders lounging on their customary sofas in the Common Room.<p>

"Oy," said James, "did the two of you finally work out whatever's had Sirius in a funk?"

"Yes," said Mary brightly. "We broke up."

Remus's eyebrows shot up. "Are you both all right?"

"Absolutely," she said at the same time Sirius muttered, "I'm not sure."

"Girl finally broken the heart of the heartthrob?" teased James.

"It wasn't like that," answered Mary. "It just wasn't what either of us wanted. Now I'll leave you to it. See you later, Sirius. Have fun." She waggled her eyebrows teasingly at him and flounced toward her dormitory.

"What was that about?" James asked.

"You know, mate," said Sirius, "I'm really not sure."

Remus was watching him curiously-they all were, really, but it was Remus whose gaze he caught. Remus whose head was cocked just slightly, whose eyebrows were furrowed gently, whose amber eyes Sirius could not look away from.

"Fancy a round of Exploding Snap?" Sirius asked, trying to shake the tension from the room.

"I'm game," said James as Peter nodded.

"Sure," said Remus, "but you're sitting across from me. You smell like wet dog."

* * *

><p>Just a few days later, the boys boarded the train. James and Peter sat together as Sirius sprawled out onto a bench by himself, thinking of Remus.<p>

Since Friday, Sirius had been unable to get his mind off the boy. The more he thought of it, the more he realized that Mary had been absolutely right. If only Remus fancied blokes, thought the dark-haired boy dejectedly.

"What're you doing over the summer, Sirius?" asked Peter.

Trying to figure out how to get a straight boy to want me, Sirius didn't say. What he did say was, "Not sure yet. Since James will be traipsing through Europe, mooning over a certain redhead instead of experiencing the beautiful women with sexy French accents-"

"Shove it, Padfoot," said James good-naturedly, using a nickname they'd adopted after their first full moon as Animagi.

"Right, well as I was saying, since James is going on holiday I'll probably have to stay with my parents this summer... bloody miserable. At least we live in London so I can spend my days in Diagon Alley."

"Sorry for you, mate," said Peter. "I know you don't fancy staying with your parents. I'd have you at mine, but my mother..."

Mrs. Pettigrew was staunchly opposed to guests. At any time, for any reason. No one was quite sure why.

"It's no problem," said Sirius. "I'll torture my brother a bit, do things to make Mum call me a filthy blood traitor-that's always fun-and get out as much as I can."

Sirius looked up sharply as the compartment door slid open. "Sorry, all," said Remus. "Prefect duties took longer than expected. Also, Sirius, I may have an alternative to your staying at Grimmauld Place." When Sirius raised his eyebrows, Remus smiled. "Werewolf hearing, remember? Anwyay, move your feet."

Sirius did so, then looked at his friend impatiently. "So, alternative?"

"I just got the owl from my parents this morning," he said brightly. "You're welcome to stay with us. It's... small, nothing like what you're used to, and of course since Mum's a Muggle things are pretty different than-"

"Sounds brilliant," said Sirius. "And there's the added bonus that my mother will faint when she hears I'm staying with you, since she knows you're a half-blood."

And, Sirius thought privately, this will give us more time alone together.

Later, as the train rolled to a stop, Sirius thought this might just be his best summer yet.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: A lovely guest reviewer found the headcanon I mentioned in my last chapter. I'd post it, but then it would give the story away! I will say it was found on Tumblr, on latortuemaladroit's page.  
>Thanks for being so patient with me, y'all. I want to do RLSB justice, and I'm short on free time, so I'm taking this slow.<p>

* * *

><p>Lyall Lupin greeted the boys at King's Cross. Though Sirius had seen him before and spoken with him briefly, he hadn't spent any real time with the man. He greeted Remus with a warm, bone-crushing hug; Sirius was struck with the envy he'd often felt seeing James with his parents. Though the Potters had all but embraced Sirius as a son, his own family was... cold.<p>

Lyall clapped a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "Sirius, it's good to see you," he said warmly. "We're happy to have you stay with us for the summer."

"Thank you, sir," said Sirius politely. He looked at the thin man; his hair was grey about the temples and his eyes creased. "I've just got to go tell my parents I won't be joining them." He walked over to where the Blacks stood, waiting for him.

This was the part he always dreaded about coming home for the holidays; there was no warmth, no hug, only a clipped "Hello, Sirius" from his father and a nod from his mother.

"Hullo," said Sirius. "I'm staying with the Lupins over the summer, so you needn't worry about me."

"With the Lupins? The acclaimed pure-blood who threw away his life and his standing for a _Muggle_?" Walburga Black screeched.

"The very same," said Sirius with mock brightness and his customary grin. He was tempted to tell them he'd also be bunking with a werewolf (with whom, it seemed, he was desperately besotted), but thought better of it. "See you next summer, if I can't avoid it."

He turned on his heel and sauntered off, letting the smile drain from his face as he approached Remus and Lyall again. "Right then," he said, running a hand through his hair. "I'm ready whenever you lot are."

"Are you all right?" asked Lyall. "That seemed... ah."

"No need to be polite about it, Mr. Lupin," said Sirius, feigning cool amusement. "They're a right awful bunch and it shows whenever they crawl out of their hole. Needless to say I'm grateful for your letting me stay."

"Of course, Sirius. Call me Lyall, by the way. Now, let's get you two home."

One quick and gut-churning Side-Along Apparition later, Sirius stumbled halfway across a small living room. He looked about the place; Mrs. Lupin was nowhere to be seen. There was a threadbare rug across the wood floor, and two old, squashy sofas. There were three photographs on the mantle: a younger-looking Mr. Lupin with a beautiful young woman by his side, smiling brightly and waving for the camera; the two again with a wriggling baby Remus held between them; and Remus, thin and gangly and apprehensive, in what looked to be his first set of Hogwarts robes standing in front of the Hogwarts Express. He kept trying to smile, but he looked a little bit ill.

"It's not much," said Remus. "We had to move about once a year before I started Hogwarts, but this is where we've lived since I was eleven. The neighbors think I go to a boarding school for gifted children, and probably that I have a very ill-behaved dog that likes to howl at the full moon."

Sirius turned toward him, cracked a grin. "Close enough," he said; he caught Remus's eye and they both laughed, knowing that he was referring to himself more than Remus's furry little problem.

"Come on up to my room; let's drop our trunks there, then we'll find my mum."

"Your mother's gone to the market to pick up something to eat," supplied Lyall. "Go unpack, and she should be back when you're done."

Sirius followed Remus up the narrow staircase and to the second bedroom on the right. It seemed to have been expanded magically, larger than it should be, with a second bed crammed into the extra space. Remus seemed surprised at this new addition. "S'pose I didn't think of that," he said. "Where you'd sleep, that is. Good of them to come up with something."

Sirius slapped a hand across his heart. "Remus John Lupin didn't think of something? What is the world coming to? However shall I go on?" he exclaimed, tossing himself dramatically across the larger bed-obviously Remus's. It smelled like him, like old books and the woods.

"Get off my bed," protested Remus. "You're going to get wet dog smell all over it."

The dark-haired boy only grinned and rolled all over it, deeply breathing in Remus's scent. Then he shut his eyes and focused on his Animagus form, and felt himself shifting.

"Stop!" Remus whispered urgently. "If my parents walked in-"

He phased back and shot Remus a slow, lazy smile. "Then they'll think _I_ have an ill-behaved dog who likes to howl at the full moon," he quipped. "Now get over here."

He sat up and tugged Remus onto the bed with him, finding himself flat on his back with an armful of werewolf. Said werewolf blushed the most enchanting shade of pink and pushed himself off of Sirius, but not before the Animagus felt his own heart start to pound.

"You can have half my dresser," Remus said quickly. "I really don't need it all, I can stuff everything into my closet."

"I'm good," said Sirius casually. "I live out of my trunk all school year; what use is there moving it into dressers and then back into the trunk in a couple months?"

"Lazy-arse," the boy tossed over his shoulder, already unpacking his own trunk.

The pair heard a door open downstairs. "Mum," Remus said happily, abandoning his trunk to start downstairs. Sirius followed.

* * *

><p>Hope Lupin greeted Sirius as warmly as Lyall had, and they sat at the small dining room table for spaghetti and thick hunks of buttered bread. Hogwarts and James's house had introduced Sirius to such casual, <em>homey<em> fare; he remembered the first time he'd been faced with spaghetti, as a first year at Hogwarts.

_Sirius didn't know what to make of this new food. He'd had pasta before, what he had since learned to be staunchly upper-class linguine with truffles and urchin eggs and all manner of unpalatable flavors, but this was a new animal. It smelled rich and acidic, with balls of beef-meatballs, James had explained incredulously-strewn about the top, and he sincerely hoped it would taste better than the pastas he'd had at the House of Black._

_But the problem was, he couldn't figure out how the hell to eat it._

_He couldn't pierce the noodles with a fork without tearing them apart. They were too long to simply scoop up. How was he supposed to get the food to his mouth, short of actually sticking his face onto the plate?_

_To his left, Remus nudged him. "Like this," he whispered. Sirius watched the smaller boy twist the pasta around his fork. When he tried to mimic Remus's action, he spun too fast and James ended up with a saucy meatball to the face. James executed a battle cry and flung noodles at Sirius ("Not the hair!" he'd protested). Sirius had tried to throw a chunk of bread at James, but he'd missed and hit Peter; it stuck comically to his robes. Quickly, a full-scale food fight erupted, and didn't cease until most plates were empty and a very angry Professor McGonagall, who'd come to put a stop to things, had ended up with a poorly aimed handful of spaghetti square in the chest._

_While McGonagall was speechless with anger, Dumbledore-a rather large meatball suspended comically in the center of his beard-stood. "Ah, to be young again," he'd said as the whole Great Hall went silent. "Thank you to whoever provided me with an extra meatball, but I do believe our meal is finished for the evening."_

Sirius's memory was interrupted by Remus, nudging his shoulder. "Hello, Sirius? You alive in there?"

Sirius grinned. "Sorry about that. I was just remembering how we got our first detention."

"Ahh," said Remus with a smile of his own. "The Infamous Spaghetti Incident. I was terrified they were going to send me home for that one."

"At that point," he answered, "I think you were terrified you were going to be sent home for breathing improperly."

Lyall and Hope were staring between the two boys, confused. They told the story in turn, Remus interrupting Sirius here and there to make corrections (because, of course, Sirius had to remove any implication of his own fault) and Sirius interrupting Remus to include the more interesting details.

"We had to clean the Great Hall," Remus finished, "without wands."

"And I was unjustly held responsible," said Sirius dramatically. "The rest of them only had to do it that one night; I was stuck with cleanup duty all week. I kept finding bits of sauce in the molding."

Hope laughed freely. "So you're the hellion that's put Remus on the path to a life of crime."

"Hey," her son objected, "I'm a prefect, remember? He's only gotten me stuck in detention once this year."

"Not my fault," Sirius objected. "You could've said no to that spontaneous Hogsmeade trip."_  
><em>

"You offered to buy me chocolate!"

"You know I'd have bought it anyway-"

"And then I'd still have been in trouble because Peter would've told them that's why you were going out," finished Remus.

"You're making me look bad in front of your parents," Sirius whined, to the Lupins' laughter.

"Not to worry," said Lyall. "We've heard enough stories over the years."

"About you the most," piped up Hope. "We've heard our share about James and Peter, but every letter home has a new tale about you. Sirius said... Sirius got in trouble for... Sirius roped me in to... Sirius gave me the _best_ Christmas present-"

"_Mum_," hissed Remus, blushing a furious shade of scarlet.

Sirius felt something flip-flop inside him as he watched Remus, distress clear in tawny eyes. Though he was amused-and maybe a little hopeful?-at Hope's illuminating comment, something inside him hurt to see Remus anything like unhappy.

"Best Christmas present?" he teased. "Was that the Chocolate Frog I charmed to bite back, or was it the toilet seat?" Sirius had a tradition of getting each of his friends a prank gift before the real one.

Remus rolled his eyes. "The book," he answered, offering a soft smile. "The one from fourth year."

Sirius remembered it well; if he hadn't, he needed only glance at his friend's bedtime reading selection just before or after the moon. Remus was often seen, at those times of the month, curled up in his four-poster reading the collection of true stories of werewolves who accomplished great things. It was the only book Sirius had been able to find that had painted werewolves-_any_ werewolves-in a positive light.

He smiled. "I'm still glad you liked it. Though I must admit I thought the toilet seat was a better gift."

"You would," muttered Remus. "Anyway, Mum, I'm going to get the dishes. You relax for the night."

"Oh," said Hope, "it's your first night back. I'll take care of it."

Sirius stood and began collecting plates. "Both of you relax," he insisted. "Remus, if you'll just show me where everything goes, I've got it."

"Thank you, Sirius," said Lyall brightly. "I must admit I've never been any good at the cleaning charms. Hope and I have to alternate doing it by hand. We're counting the days until Remus turns seventeen so he can do it all for us."

The two students ended up doing the dishes together, Sirius washing while Remus dried and put them away. Sirius was acutely aware of how close together they were standing in the cramped kitchen.

_What the hell is wrong with you, Black_, he admonished._ You've been way closer to Remus on a regular basis for years. You sit this close in classes. Just because it's been pointed out to you that you're madly in love with him, you don't need to act like a bloody bird about it._

That kind of-sort of-almost worked-ish, until Remus turned to him. "You've got a few bubbles... right there," he said, reaching up to brush them from Sirius's cheek.

_Don't blush don't blush don't blush_, he told himself as his breath hitched. The urge to lean forward, to take that soft, pink mouth with his own, was almost overwhelming. "Thanks," he said softly.

Remus pulled his hand away, turning to finish drying the dishes. "Don't mention it."

Later that night, Sirius lay in bed just a few feet from Remus-the same as he did every night-and tried, and tried, and tried, and tried to sleep.

When that didn't work, he tried to think of ways to backpedal, to get over this stupid, unrequited crush.

When that didn't work, he merely lay and stared at the ceiling, wishing desperately for the right to watch Remus instead.


	4. Chapter 4

Finals are over... That'll free up a little bit of time for writing this month! ^_^ I'm not super happy with this chapter, but it's a setup for the future.

Quick shout-out to my lovely reviewers. I'll be the first to admit I often don't think to review a story, even one I absolutely love, while I'm reading it. But from a writer's perspective, reviews help me figure out what my readers like, what I need to fix, and how I'm doing with the story. I'll at least try to send one review for every story I read, and in turn I'm asking you all to try and do the same. :) I'd really appreciate it.

Wet Dog is going to come between 15-20K... I generally prefer (reading and writing) longer works but you can only take a fluff piece so far. I'm thinking about writing a series of 10K stories highlighting the relationship of Remus and Sirius, with this one being the start, and continuing through Remus's death. For obvious reasons they'd get a fair bit darker than this one, since I want to stick with canon as best I can. This'll be a project between other stories. Input, ideas, yay or nay?

* * *

><p>If there was one thing that helped shake the flushing, jittery feeling that was almost everpresent in Sirius's stomach, it was Hope Lupin's record collection.<br>The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, David Bowie, Hope Lupin had it all and Sirius Black loved every bit of it. While Lyall was at work, Hope and Sirius would jam out to new records every day, the woman singing along in her ethereal alto and the boy drinking in every note. Remus would curl up on the recliner and read, smiling softly to himself.

Home. That was the feeling that Sirius felt at the Potters'. The Lupin house didn't feel quite the same to Sirius, not as though the family had been waiting to welcome him in like the last piece of a puzzle. But it was comfort. He was welcome here, in a way he'd never felt in his own house.

Each morning-well, afternoon to be honest-the boys would wake up, talk across their beds for an hour or two (during which time Sirius felt alternately soft and warm, and unbearably flustered in a way he'd never been before), then go downstairs to wheedle brunch out of Hope. They'd complete their music-and-books routine for the majority of the afternoon, take a walk or play Exploding Snap or chess, then eat dinner when Lyall returned. Evenings were spent with Remus trying to cajole Sirius into doing some homework, which very rarely worked, then the boys retiring to the bedroom to talk some more before bed (or, not so occasionally, wrestle over the last bit of chocolate). The routine was comfortable, and all members of the house were happy.

Until the morning before the full moon.

* * *

><p>Sirius was accustomed to the boy being irritable and tired, but it was another animal entirely to see it outside of Hogwarts. He put up no front, not with Sirius or his parents. The dark-haired boy hadn't realized just how much pain Remus went through on the day leading up to the moon.<p>

He rolled over in bed that morning, earlier than usual, when he heard the bedroom door open. Lyall stood there carrying a tray.  
>"Remus? Remus, your mother made breakfast," he said gently. The werewolf only grunted.<p>

Lyall crossed to Sirius, setting the tray on the top of his trunk. "See if you can get him to eat anything," he said quietly. "Sometimes he will and sometimes he won't."

"Thank you, sir," Sirius responded. "Usually we bring him food back from breakfast and lunch, but he'll only eat it about half the time. I know the moons are a little easier when there's something in his stomach."

The man smiled grimly. "That they are. I'm taking the day off work, so let us know if the two of you need anything. There's enough there for both of you, but of course feel free to come down and eat with us if Remus won't wake."

Without another word, the man left, shutting the door softly behind him.

Sirius stood, then sat on the edge of Remus's bed. The boy was still sleeping, flat on his back, his fists clenched over the worn covers and his chin caught in a grimace.

"Remus?" Sirius prodded gently. "Remus, wake up and eat a little." He lay a hand on Remus's shoulder.

The werewolf flinched at Sirius's touch, his eyes opening wide. "Sirius?" he panted. "God, it hurts."

"Does it always hurt this bad?" Oh, his heart ached.

"Yes," he sputtered. "Usually I-I pretend to be asleep so you lot don't see it. I don't want you to see me like this."

"You've nothing to hide," answered Sirius. "I see you in the worst agony right before each change. I just didn't know the hurt started this early. Why don't you try to eat something?"

Remus shook his head. "Can't."

Feeling hopeless and a little lost, Sirius did the only thing that came to mind: he walked over to the door and locked it before morphing himself into Padfoot. When he approached the tray loaded with bacon, sausages, eggs and toast, his human mind had to war with his doggie instinct. Ignoring the intense urge to gobble up every morsel, he took a piece of bacon gingerly between his teeth and carried it over to Remus's bed. He whined gently at the boy, who slowly reached over to scratch behind his left ear.

"Thank you," he said with a soft smile. He took the offered piece of bacon, broke off the slobbery end (which Sirius devoured greedily) and took a bite from it. "God," he said around a small mouthful of bacon, "I was hungrier than I'd thought. Could I ask you to...?"

Sirius allowed his body to grow back to its natural form, then reached over for the tray. He picked up a link of sausage and put it to Remus's lips.

It had to be wrong, somehow, to take such personal delight in the sandy-haired boy's smile. But he always had, hadn't he? Realizing that he had a... crush... on Remus didn't suddenly make it perverse for him to be happy to help, happy he had done any small thing to cause the boy to smile. _You would do this for James if he needed it_, he reminded himself. _Or Peter._

"You don't have to hand-feed me, you know," said Remus with just a tinge of pink in his cheeks. "I appreciate it, but I'm not a total invalid." He made to sit up, grimaced again, and lay back down. When he reached for the tray, Sirius merely held it out of his reach and used the other hand to pop the rest of the sausage into Remus's mouth.

"Thank you," said Remus again after he'd swallowed.

"Don't mention it," he said. "Where am I right now?"

"Um... on my bed?"

Sirius rolled his eyes with a grin. "Well, probably technically. But where I really am is right here for you. Always will be. You're one of my best mates; I'd do anything for you."

Neither of the boys-nearly men-noticed the way each leaned toward the other, just slightly. But Sirius saw the way Remus bit his lip, hope and something he couldn't quite identify in his eyes.

"You're the best," Remus told Sirius. "I think that's all I can eat for now, thanks."

"All right, mate. Want to try and sleep again, or do something else?"

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep through this," Remus admitted.

"Is there anything that ever helps?" asked Sirius.

Remus bit his lip again, enchantingly, and a low flush rose over his cheeks. "Not really. Mum used to-to read to me before I went to Hogwarts, for a bit of a distraction. It was kind of an unspoken thing when she stopped, I think it hurts her too much to see me in pain. I don't see much of her the day before the moon. Not that she's not there for me," he defended quickly. "The day after, Dad usually goes back to work and she stays by my side the whole time. It's just easier for her because then there's something she can do and all, and please don't think she's just ignoring me or anything it's just-"

"Pick a book," Sirius interrupted, knowing that when Remus went on the defensive, he'd exhaust both parties before he finished.

"Are-are you sure? You don't have to," the werewolf said hurriedly. I do this every month, you know, and I'll make it through. You're free to go listen to records with Mum."

It was almost endearing, the way Remus fought with all he had (which, at the moment, was admittedly not much) to avoid inconveniencing others. And it was heartbreaking. Perhaps because of that, Sirius simply took the book from Remus's nightstand, opened it to the bookmarked page, and began to read. He stopped only for restroom breaks and, when Hope brought up supper, to take a few small bites.

* * *

><p>At a half hour to sunset, Remus sat up in bed. "I've got to get down to the cellar," he said.<p>

"All right. Do your parents know about me, or do I have to find a way to sneak in with you?"

"You can't," he protested. "They can't know you're an illegal Animagus, and the cellar is everything-proof. Can't Apparate into or out of it, even if you knew how."

"But Remus-"

"No. Please don't fight me on this one."

Sirius fought with his own anguish. He knew how much more it hurt Remus when he was alone, knew that he'd be riddled with gashes and bruises he might not have had if Remus were there. He nodded miserably, and helped the boy out of bed and down the stairs, then outside and through the doors of what looked like an underground bomb shelter. Through the waning light he could see nothing but concrete, stained with more blood than magic could hope to eliminate.

The Lupins hurried Sirius to the bedroom shortly after. "There's nothing you can do, and it's harder to hear him from upstairs," Hope had explained.

But Remus wasn't the only one with canine-enhanced hearing. In his dog form, he heard the crunch of Remus's bones shifting from two stories above and ten feet over, heard each agonizing moan, each pained howl.

He had thought that Remus's solo transformation would be easier for him to handle as a dog, when he could revert to the nonlingual thought processes and, perhaps, not dwell. It was useless; every fiber in Padfoot's being wanted to go down, to be with his packmate, to help.

Eventually he changed back and slipped downstairs for a cup of tea. There was no way he'd be sleeping tonight, so he may as well load up on caffeine. He felt useless, helpless. Itchy from the inside. Remus was hurting, and if he'd fought harder, he could be helping to ease that. Instead he waited, doing nothing, while sweet, cunning, brave Remus Lupin tore himself apart.

He was somehow surprised to find Lyall already in the kitchen, pulling a mug down from the cabinet. He looked more tired, more old, than Sirius had seen him yet.

Wordlessly, Lyall pulled down a second mug and filled it up. "Careful, it's hot," he warned.

"Thanks," said Sirius. "It's killing me, not being able to help like I want to."

"I know. Hope is outside, reading by flashlight-it's a kind of Muggle lantern that runs on electricity."

"It's bound to be worse, hearing him that close."

"It is," answered Lyall. "But it's as close as she can get to him, and that's all she can do. I wish there was something any of us could do to make this easier for him. We've tried Immobilizing him, but it simply goes away when he transforms. We've tried everything we can think of."

Remus had told Sirius that his parents weren't to know about his Animagus form. But damn it, his best friend was hurting.

There was nothing he could do this moon; as Remus had said, the cellar was "everything-proof" and there was no way for him to get inside tonight without placing the Lupins in great danger. But there was another full moon before Hogwarts term started, and could Sirius truly live with himself if he didn't help where he could?

The decision was made quickly. "Lyall," he said, "Remus made me promise not to tell you about this, but I have something that may help the next moon."

Lyall looked up sharply from the mug of tea he'd been brooding into. "What is it?" he asked, decade-old desperation haunting his features.

"Don't be mad that I didn't tell you this before," he begged, "and please don't tell anybody." He set his mug down on the counter and shifted.

Lyall gasped. "An Animagus? Sirius, but you're only sixteen!"

A now-human Sirius said, "I know. Which is why you can't tell anyone. We're sworn to secrecy, but if I'm here, I won't let Remus suffer through this pain on his own next time. He's calmer if he has a packmate there, and werewolf bites don't infect animals."

"What about the Trace?" he said. "You're underage."

"I think it's something to do with inherent, wandless magic," said Sirius with a shrug. "Remus has done the research; he'll tell you more about it. Anyway, one of the very few benefits to being a Black is that the sods at the Ministry turn a blind eye to things like underage magic."

Lyall blinked once, twice. Processed. "You've done this before?"

"The last few months," answered Sirius. "It's so... different. We end up with cuts and bruises, sure, but nothing that's left a scar. Including on Remus. The transformation hurts him, but for the rest of the night... the best way I can describe it is play fighting. He's sore and exhausted the next day but it isn't nearly so bad." He carefully edited out mention of the other Marauders. On the off chance that Lyall decided to tell the Ministry, he'd go down for this one alone.

The man clapped a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Sirius," he said sincerely, "Remus is lucky to have a friend like you, and I'm truly thankful. If you're certain you'll be safe, and Hope will agree to it, I'd like for you to be with him next month."

Sirius nodded. "With all due respect, sir," he said, "I only didn't go down this month because Remus wouldn't let me; he didn't want you to find out, since I'm not strictly legal. But now the stopper's off the potion bottle, and after hearing how much pain he's in, you and Hope couldn't stop me going down next month if you tried."

A small, humourless chuckle and a nod. "Remus is lucky to have you indeed, Sirius."

The pair ventured to the sitting room, nursing their tea and waiting for dawn to come.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note Part Deux<strong>: Because I've kept you all waiting, and I'm not sure how long until the next chapter is published, here's a sneak peak at chapter 5:

Remus tears Sirius a new one over the Animagus issue but Remus is Notoriously Forgiving so it'll probably be okay!  
>Sirius decides to admit his feelings (but mostly doesn't)!<br>Sirius decides to go rock-and-roll (and doesn't do the best job but bless him, he tries)!  
>Sirius takes lunch with his biological family while wearing eyeliner!<p>

All this and more, folks. ;) Review, subscribe and stick with me here! 


End file.
